And The High Times
by thescissoring
Summary: It was strange, Max thought, that she could have such a strong reaction to someone she had just met. But she would think about that later; It was an understatement to say that Max was smitten.


**So this is a coffee shop AU type thing that I started working on a year ago, and found the other day. I polished it up a bit and have a final draft for a first chapter.**

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Max Black silently willed the barista behind the counter to hurry with her order; there was only one table left in the small cafe and she wanted to snag it before anyone else did. But of course, when her sandwich and smoothie were ready five minutes later, someone had already sat at the table. Max shrugged and looked for another empty table but couldn't find one. Because she wanted to kill as much time as possible before her shift at the diner, she headed toward a table where only one person (a woman who looked like she'd keep to herself) was seated.

"Hey, you mind if I sit here?" Max asked, gesturing to the empty seat.

"Not at all," the stranger said, shooting Max a smile before looking back down at her phone.

"I'm Caroline," the stranger said a few minutes later, turning off her phone and setting next to her empty soup bowl.

"Max," Max said around a mouthful of sandwich. She swallowed hard and gave Caroline a quick once-over. She took in Caroline's outfit: a pressed white, long sleeved button down and black pants, impossibly high heels, and diamonds glittering in each ear, then thought of her own work uniform under a long winter coat and beat up boots that were slightly too small. Always nosy, she couldn't help but ask, "This isn't your usual atmosphere, huh?"

Caroline chuckled.

"Sadly no. I have to meet with this guy from another Law Firm all week and we decided to meet here because it's halfway between us both, but you probably don't care about that… Anyway, no, but I kind of like it here, it's quaint." She looked around the dining area and smiled again. She was very smiley, Max noticed.

"Quaint? Ha! Panera is just a Starbuck's that's trying too hard. So you're a lawyer? Do you like, defend serial killers and stuff?" Max joked.

Caroline laughed. She liked Max, which was strange because they were so obviously very different.

"No! I'm a business attorney. Copyrights, contracts, that sort of thing. No serial killers."

"Bummer," Max said, loudly sucking the last of her smoothie through the straw.

"What do you do?" Caroline asked.

Max hesitated. She wanted to lie and say something really impressive, as the chances of her running into Caroline again were slim, but she opted for the truth.

"I'm a waitress. Kind of a letdown after lawyer."

"Hey there's no shame in being a waitress! I was a waitress all through college and law school."

"Yeah well, you probably worked someplace fancy right? I work at the Williamsburg Diner. Trust me, you never want to eat there."

"I worked at Chile's," Caroline offered, but Max snorted.

"Still better than the diner."

Caroline wrinkled her nose. She'd seen some nasty things at Chile's; thinking of anything worse made her skin crawl.

"Well I've gotta go… It was nice to meet you," Max said, surprising herself. She was never so formal, and she never thought it was nice to meet anybody.

"You too!" Caroline exclaimed, extending her hand for Max to shake. "If you're here this time tomorrow I'll see you again."

"Sure," Max said with kind of a half smile. The chances of that were unlikely, but for some reason, Caroline seemed too nice to be mean to. "Well, bye," she said awkwardly, and headed for the door. Maybe she would go back tomorrow.

Max pulled open the door to Panera and was hit with the smell of coffee and fresh bread. She hadn't been planning to come back, and the truth was she couldn't afford the over-priced meals and weird drinks. But she went to the counter and ordered a coffee, glancing around the dining area for Caroline. She spotted her in the far corner of the room, in one of the arm chairs next to the fireplace.

"Mind if I sit?" she asked, nodding toward the chair opposite from Caroline.

"Hi Max! Yeah, go ahead. Johnathan just left." Caroline smiled. She was happy Max had come back.

"Johnathan? Is he a client? What is he? Killer? Armed robber?" Max questioned, waggling her eyebrows.

Caroline laughed.

"I told you, I'm just a business lawyer. He's the guy from the other Law Firm I mentioned."

"Oh yeah."

"He's wicked annoying though. He barely talks about the case, he just watches that barrista over there." Max followed Caroline's gaze to the woman behind the counter. "So where are you from?"

Max sipped her coffee for something to do instead of answering right away. She felt so awkward around Caroline, because she never had normal conversations with anyone. The only people she really talked to during the day were customers or coworkers, and apart from Earl, the cashier, no one ever asked her things about herself, and of course, it did not help that Caroline was incredibly, distractingly beautiful. She had long blonde hair that was straightened and pulled into a ponytail, blue eyes framed by long lashes, and dimples in her cheeks. Her features were sharp yet kind, and her smile was enough to make Max feel all warm inside. It was strange, Max thought, that she could have such a strong reaction to someone she had just met. But she would think about that later; It was an understatement to say that Max was smitten.

"I grew up in Hope Rhode Island," Max said finally, pausing to take a sip of her coffee. "My mom was… absent.I don't know who my dad is. I mostly took care of myself."

Caroline nodded understandingly. Her mother had been absent too, but she had a feeling it was in a very different way.

"You?" Max asked, not wanting to talk about herself anymore. She was surprised she had said as much as she did.

"Oh, I'm from Boston. I miss it there, but New York has a lot of the same qualities honestly."

"Loud, sweaty drunk people?"

"Exactly."

They both laughed then, and for a moment Caroline let her eyes briefly wander over Max's face. She was pale with rosy cheeks and dark red lips, and her dark hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders.

"So what are your plans for the day?" Caroline asked.

"Well I was gonna smoke weed with the homeless lady outside my building," Max answered honestly, smirking when she saw Caroline try to hide her look of horror.

_God, she has such a pretty face, _Max thought.

"Sounds fun…!"

"But I got called into work instead. I think one of our day waitresses OD'd again."

"Oh my god, again?"

Max just shrugged and took a sip of her coffee.

"It happens... You smoke?"

"Smoke what?"

Max just gave her a look.

"Oh, _that! _I used to... Ah, yeah, I do," Caroline laughed. "Only like once or twice a week though."

"Nice."

"You want to smoke sometime?" Caroline asked, surprising herself. She had been contemplating asking Max if she wanted to get together sometime, but was hoping the first thing they did would be a little classier.

Max thought for a moment. She should have wanted to say no, and just leave, but there was something about Caroline that made Max want to be around her. So she accepted, half-hoping that Caroline would do something while high that made Max realize she was too good to be true.

"Great." Caroline took out a pen and a legal pad and tore a small corner off of one of the pages. "Meet me here Saturday? Around 8:30?"

"Okay cool."

_Cool_? What was she, fifteen?

While Max silently chastised herself, Caroline became increasingly nervous. What if she embarrassed herself? Or acted so strangely that she scared Max away? She really wanted to be friends with her, and she didn't want to ruin it.

"Do you need me to like, bring snacks or something?" Max asked, snapping Caroline out of her thoughts.

"No, that's fine, I have stuff."

"Okay… Hey I gotta get to work but I'll see you Saturday I guess." Max tried to sound apathetic but she was actually kind of looking forward to it. It had been a while since she had just hung out with someone whose company she actually enjoyed.

"See you." Caroline gave a wave and a smile, which Max returned, and then she watched Max leave.

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**Let me know what you guys think? Any ideas on what should happen when they hang out?**


End file.
